In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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